Internal operations

Our own office operations also have an impact on the environment. CO2 emissions are primarily from the energy use of our seven offices, air travel and the emissions from company cars. We want to lead by example and inspire our tenants and client investors to invest in sustainability.We have therefore implemented a number of measures to reduce the environmental impact of our office operations.

50% CO2 REDUCTION IN 2020

In 2008, we set ourselves a target of 4,842 kgCO2 per employee for 2020, which we met in 2011. We set a new target in early 2016: to reduce our rates to 2,700 kgCO2 per employee. This represents a 50% reduction compared to the 2009 baseline. Our performance in 2018 was 3,187 kgCO2 per employee.

We expect to achieve the target by measures such as evaluating our company car policy (specifically the emissions cap), every two years and continuously improving the environmental performance of our offices. In 2018, we lowered the emissions cap for company cars from 125 to 110 gCO2 per km. In 2019 we will review the guidelines again for the following years. The offices in Brussels and Düsseldorf relocated in the summer of 2018 to locations with significantly less square meters and where a number of measures were taken to decrease the environmental impact of our offices. We are therefore expecting to show a decrease in energy consumption next year.

Case studyEmployees‘ sustainability initiatives

Our local teams are always motivated to come up with ideas to reduce their footprint and learn more about sustainability in its broadest sense. In 2018 the Swiss team participated in the swiss wide “Bike to Work” initiative where people commit to cycle to work by bike at least 50% of the working days: healthy and CO2 saving. The Amsterdam office participated in the national initiative “Week without meat”, the German team changed to a sustainable coffee supplier and organised a workshop for the team.